In Memory
by stevegallacci
Summary: Catastrophe forces Nick to consider the past and future and his relationship with Judy
1. Chapter 1

**I tend to have relationship progress driven by external forces, least things just kind of go along (in real life as well as in my fiction) and came up with with this as a way of forcing the issue of a Nick and Judy thing. That and the** ** _Violet Diaries_** **here and the attendant comic strips based off got me all wiggly for little kit stuff.**

It started with a 'phone call.

"Mom?"

"Jeremy?" Bonny answered, thank goodness for caller ID, with all the kin that might call, she never could keep clear who was who over the 'phone. But she could tell something was up with her son. "What is it, dear?"

"Mom, it's bad news. There's a new strain of Rabbit Fever, a mutation of SFN 3. It could mean an epidemic. There's going to be a public announcement within the hour, but I wanted to warn you now with some extra details."

"How bad are we talking about?" Bonny was not going to panic, but of the several maladies that fell under the broad title of 'Rabbit Fever', SFN3 was one of the more dreaded. Sometimes lethal, and occasionally crippling, it had heretofore been considered largely under control.

Jeremy groaned, "Good news, bad news. The more modern immunizations ought to be good, so the kids should be safe. And, so far, it looks like anyone who got exposed in the '80s outbreak ought to have some protection as well." He sighed. "But. It is looking like anyone who got the juvenile SFN3/96 series immunizations but didn't do the SFN3/03 or later boosters don't have any protection from this version."

"What does that mean?" Bonny had a terrible idea, but she didn't dare speak it.

"Well, since next to no one bothered to get those boosters back in the day, it means most of the young adults locally are now susceptible."

Bonny gasped, as that was exactly her fear. "Are you safe?"

"I've been exposed to and shot for so many things, I ought to be more than fine. And you and all your age cohort ought to be okay for the most part. But assume everyone from twenty to forty is at greatest risk."

00000

"Say, Judy, I just heard a thing on the news about a 'rabbit fever' outbreak out in your family's neck of the woods." Nick was waiting in the cruiser for Judy to climb back aboard after a bathroom break. She'd always get some kind of goodie for the two of them as it would more often than not be a fast food joint for the pit stop. She gasped then tossed a bag with something deep-fried in it at him and scrambled for her smart 'phone.

"No, no, no, no!" She whispered anxiously as she pounded through several screens of data. Finding a thing, she read through it, grief-struck.

Nick was shocked. The report sounded like little more than another nuisance flu outbreak, bothersome to some species but ultimately of no greater consequence. "What is it?"

"This is bad. Epidemic bad. Body count bad." Judy glanced around, seeing something other than the quiet street. She rubbed her face. "It's a disease, hits just about the whole of the order lagomorpha, but prefers rabbits. There are vaccines and most of the population is covered, but."

"The older treatment was assumed to be good for a lifetime, but a new type became available a while back to deal with the natural mutation potential of it. Ideally, anyone who had the old shot should have gotten the updated version as well as a booster."

"And let me guess, the new outbreak is going after those who didn't get the booster?"

"Yeah. And its my age cohort and older. I'm safe, but glob only knows how many of my kin might be at risk."

"What do you want to do?" Nick began to think of some kind of dramatic action save off in the 'Burrow.

"Do? Don't you remember the section on civil defense and pandemic strategies? We're going to have to deal with a lot of sick bunnies right here in no time."

"Can't it be contained? I mean, ya know?"

"I'd bet that there are already some carriers in town already, courtesy of our modern transportation network. The write up I saw didn't say, but if it is like the earlier versions, it will likely have a variable incubation period, vague early symptoms, and be very communicable."

00000

Then the storm broke. Even with the modern disease control measures available, a lot of rabbits got sick. And as feared, there were deaths. In some outlaying communities as many as ten percent of the vulnerable population either died or suffered serious complications. Internationally it was even worse.

In all too many cases, the at risk populations either had not gotten the word or had not taken it seriously enough. Individuals were willing to take the chance that they'd simply miss getting it, or had some immunity, real or imagined. Or simply didn't believe that the warnings were real.

At the same time, routine colds and simple sniffles were at their peak, compounding fears and adding confusion and distraction to legitimate cases. It also led to several panics about species crossover, causing additional problems all around. Tragically there were a few real crossover cases, often not properly diagnosed, leading to a bad end.

Zootopia proper had an unfortunate mix of rabbit populations that included many who had never received any vaccines or had come from other regions with highly variable levels of previous treatments. Census and residency records helped medical teams find and treat folks in their homes as needed and social workers made follow up checks to insure their continued health.

The days turned to weeks and beyond, and with that, crisis fatigue. For some it became the awful new normal, for others, burnout or other failures to cope or endure began to reduce the ranks of caregivers. To help support the effort, police and fire personnel assisted as they could.

00000

Yet another round of welfare checks. Nick was teamed up with Eileen again. There were a couple of older Lagos in this apartment that needed to be checked on and the building manager simply handed Nick a passkey to gain access if needed.

Nick had to call that in, as that kind of entry could get legally touchy if anyone wanted to object to violations of their privacy. Once he got the okay, the ongoing medical emergency allowed for cause if anyone wanted to challenge. The lengths beasts would go to, even in the face of a sensible concern for health and safety, was so frustrating.

The first couple of rabbits were okay, not at all concerned with the scary fox in ZPD uniform escorting the sweet beaver girl nurse.

"Thank the Fates you're so loveable." Nick observed, not for the first time.

Eileen made a little face. "I'm beginning to appreciate rabbit's dislike of the term 'cute'." She huffed. "Right, my shifty, devil-red partner?"

Nick theatrically recoiled in shock, then recovered with a smile. "You're right, Ma'am." And bowed in apology. "But it is galling that half the time they're still all about what you are instead of why you're here." Nick grumped, more to himself, "If it hadn't been for all the publicity when she started, no one would have acknowledged Hopps as a real cop at all."

"Thinking of which, how's she holding up to all this?"

"She's being brave, but she's dreading any calls from home. Most of the victims back in the 'Burrow are all around her age, so its exactly who she grew up with who are getting it worst."

"That must be awful. My folks are unhappy I'm still doing this, with all the hysteria over cross-over."

They had been walking down the hallway to their next subject when Nick's nose suddenly reacts. "uhoh."

"Eileen, can you smell anything?" He pointed to a unit door not on the list.

"Not sure, maybe a poo smell?"

"I get something worse." He activates his comm. "Officer Wilde. I have a smell probable cause entry, possible medical emergency. Unit 3-F at this location. Stand by for responder request."

Eileen blanched, "You really think someone - ?"

"Only one way to find out." He pounded on the door. "ZPD! Is anyone in here? Do you need assistance? I have medical help with me if you need it! Is anyone in here?"

Getting no response, he used the passkey to open the door. Inside the scent was terrible. Vomit, diarrhea, urine, a general stink of illness, and the first harsh tangs of a death. The unit was a moderate sized two bedroom, and there in the first bedroom, there she was.

Nick has seen death all too many times, and commonly, their dignity as well as their lives were compromised. The victim, a rabbit Doe, had been sick, with the oversize mattress stained with a sad collection of bodily excretions. She was nude and had crawled or fallen off the bed and was now sprawled on the floor, naked and dead. At first glance, too much like Judy, and he had to stop and collect himself.

Then his mission brain took over. He called in for a coroner to deal with the body and the scene analysis. From the trail of stains, she looked like she had crawled to the edge of the bed to a nightstand, then fell off to the floor and had a paw under the bed. He looked, and there was a 'phone, just out of reach. Could she have been trying to call for help in her last minutes?

Eileen looked in horror from the bedroom door. Nick came back over to her and gave her a little hug. "Can you go down to the manager's office and find out why she's not listed?" It would give her something to do and, more importantly, get her out of the awful. As much as he was assailed by all the reek, he was grateful she didn't have a sensitive nose, as it would have wreaked her.

He looked around; saw a purse and a couple small travel bags. The apartment looked like a gamer bachelor pad, for someone other than rabbits. Ungulates maybe? Was she a guest, or crasher? Without touching anything, he looked around, yes, class D size ungulate of some kind. Male, but not in recently.

He went to check the second bedroom and found them. The room looked like it was a catch-all for miscellaneous stuff. Boxes for electronics and games, stacks of books, a never used exercise machine, and a small mattress on the floor. There were several blankets strewn about, and inside a bundle in a far corner, three little bunnies.

Maybe a year old? No sign of illness, but they seemed lethargic. When was the last time they'd been fed? If the Doe had been their mother, it could have been days, as she was likely incapacitated well before she finally passed.

He went into the kitchen. There were a few bunny food items, suggesting they'd been weaned and were doing proper solids. He got a big glass of water and a bundle of young, tender shoots for them. They hadn't moved since he found them, not a good sign. Propping one up, he offered it, her, a sip of water. She perked up with that a bit, still muzzy, but more or less awake. Instead of the shoot, Nick offered a crumb of one of his crunchy bars. The all-purpose carbs and protein mix ought to give her a little jump-start. Her nose got very interested and she eagerly nibbled the bit. An extra bit of water, then she was ready to work on the shoots.

He then repeated the process for the other two, a boy and another girl. As they were preoccupied with their munchies, Nick took the chance to bundle them up and carry them out of the bedroom and then out of the apartment. Fortunately, they didn't seem to react to all the scents. He sat down cross-legged to cradle the threesome in his lap, down the hall and up-wind of anything.

"Oh, my! They were in there too?" Eileen fretted. "They're so small."

"Yeah, Id' guess a year or so." Nick pointed each out, "These two are girls and this one's a boy." He stroked and rubbed them to keep them comforted. Sure, just to keep them comforted. He was loath to admit it, but seeing the poor dead Doe had hit him hard. Was it that she reminded him of his sweet Carrots, or just the notion of a young mother dying alone with kits in the next room? There was a memory he fought away.

He examined them a bit more as he touched them, taking in their scent as he did so. Their presumed mother had been all grey, disconcertedly similar to Judy's color, but lacked her countershade or black ear tips. The first girl was similarly grey, but with darker, smoky points, her muzzle, ears tips, and paws all accented. The second girl was more a uniform smoky grey, and the boy had a similar dark base, but with nearly black points.

"Have you called them in?"

"oh." He'd been too preoccupied with caring for them to alert Social Services. And that proved to be exasperation. With all the sick parents, even more than actual deaths in the city, Social Services were buried in young bunnies to be taken care of. So much so that the beast he was on the line to, half-hoped he would keep them, at least for a few days.

"You've got to be kidding?" He looked at the closed connection on his 'phone.

"So, what's the story on the apartment?"

"The manager said it's rented to a Howard Flagstaff, a small Caribou. Doesn't know why he's not here and she is."

"Damn, damn, damn." Nick considered. "Can you check on the remaining folks here? I've got to stand by until the 'death squad' shows up." He nuzzled the kits again. "And it looks like I'm stuck with these guys for a while."

Eileen watched his interaction with the trio and saw how 'stuck' he really was.

Processing the apartment and the body therein took most of the rest of the day and Nick was nearly desperate to get out of there by the time they were done. The only new fact they could find for now was that the mother had been a Dawn Scampert, her only record was that of an indigent, no formal employment or residence, and no record of the triplet's birth.

Nick got back to the Precinct just before shift change, so had a double helping of attention from all the other officers on hand. That was to be expected, as ZPD's finest had a particular soft spot for kits in general and orphans and foundlings in particular. That it was Wilde and a batch of bunnies was not lost on the crowd, and they were keen to see Hopps' reaction to the sight. She was also out on a welfare check and was running even later.

It was not what they expected.

"What the Halls IS this, Wilde?" Snarled the Rabbit Officer in a very unrabbity fashion. She pointed an angry paw at the triplets that lay snoozing in the offending fox's lap.

"Uhm, three young rabbits, approximately a year old?"

"And why - " She stopped, her face twisted in unreadable emotion, "NO! I don't want to hear it!" And she stomped out of the break room.

Most of day shift had gone by then, but Francine was still on hand, and after signing Nick to stay, she followed Judy off to the female locker room to see what was up. She found Judy sitting on a bench, her face in one paw, pounding her other paw into the hardwood.

"Hopps?"

"Not now." Judy hissed/whispered/whined as she seemed determined to punch her way through the bench plank. Unfortunately, her paw was on the losing side of that and Francine wrapped her trunk around the distraught rabbit before she could do herself any more damage.

"Good glob, girl! What's wrong?"

Judy took a couple breaths to collect herself. "They're dying all around me, Frannie. My family back in the 'Burrow, all these folk here in the city. Now Nick has those - . And I know they're here with him because someone is dead!" Said not in grief, but furious rage, and with that, she struggled in the elephant's embrace.

"Promise you're not going to break anything?" Francine soothed.

Judy had gotten a paw free and was in mid-swing to give her such a punch when she seemed to fully realize what she was doing.

"Ohhh. I'm so sorry." Judy was coming back to something like normal. "I was so hoping to get off shift and avoid all that for at least a little while with Nick, and there he was..."

"Yeah. And I suspect you're not done with all that yet."

Judy caught something in her comment. "Oh?"

"Nick's been glued to those three since he found them about midday."

"Oh?" More a sigh than a question. "Okay, let's see how bad it is." She grumbled.

And there was Nick again, looking awfully anxious for his Best Bunny, yet loath to disturb the three in his lap.

"Too much after a bad day?"

She sat down next to him. "One more gone back home and we found three in crisis here with poor prospects." Judy sighed, but with an angry edge. "And I suppose - ." She glanced down at the three then clashed her teeth and regarded her smashed paw.

Nick saw the damage and stifled a cry, holding out his paws to her. "You Bunnies, so emotional."

She let him cradle her injury and he atavistically began to ever so gently lick at the torn knuckles. She resisted the urge to pull away, as the action was so soothing, but.

She whispered, "Nick, there are folks watching." It wasn't exactly embarrassing or untoward, but it was a bit more of an intimate gesture than she would rather not have her fellow officers witness.

"What? Seeing me look after my mate." Though little more than a whisper, there was something in how he said that. And he used the 'M' word, which he Never Uttered, even in jest.

"Nick, are you alright?" Obviously the poor fox must have had a stroke or psychotic break or something.

"Never better, all thing considered." He attempted a wane smile. "Just seeing these guys kind of gave me a push. You know I love you, don't you?"

Judy squirmed a bit. While she was calming down, she wasn't really up for that kind of talk. "What are you saying?"

"I want to get serious with you, Judy."

Judy gave Nick a bit of a sidelong look. "What brought that on?" She glanced at the triplets again. "What? You got to play daddy for a day and suddenly it's all domestic fantasies?" Her anger flared up again.

Nick looked truly hurt by that. Then regrouped. "Judith Laverne Hopps. Calm down and THINK for a minute." He dramatically drew a breath. "I know how all of this has been a terrible time for you. And these guys are the last thing you need to have to deal with. I know that. And I know that because I love you. And when I say I love you, it is because I DO know you so well."

Judy looked at her fox. She truly didn't know what to say. They had skirted around this kind of talk for the longest time, letting things left unsaid, even as they both suspected they shared those thoughts.

Nick continued, "Right now, today and for likely the next few, these three have nowhere to go. Social Services is packed, they actually asked me, Me, to keep them for the duration. Bogo has given me a few days unofficially, and is prepared to grant parental leave if need be. If you don't want to get involved, that's fine. Seriously." He reached over to touch her face. "I really know how much this hurts, and know you need some respite from the awful. But once things get settled, I want you as my one and only, formally, if you'll have me."

Judy could hardly believe what she was hearing. The thing she'd been hoping and dreading for a good while now. Finally, she had something of an answer. "We'll have to work out some details," She glanced around to imply their status as partners on duty, "Then I'd say yes."


	2. Chapter 2

Argh. Waking up at o-dark-thirty, whether she needed to or not. Judy had not slept at all well last night and for the moment resented a lifetime of early rising. Nick's multiple bombshells had kept her tossing and turning all night, made worse by his absence. He was in the other bedroom with the kits.

She got up, all too awake, and slumped to the bathroom for her morning rituals. She looked terrible, beyond bed fur, she had to admit. These weeks of the crisis had worn her down more than she had heretofore been willing to acknowledge. She'd lost weight, and her fur was dull. Scrubbing her face with her good paw, she was shocked to see the loose fur she'd just rubbed off. Then there was her abused paw, now stiff and swollen and hurting.

'Bunnies, so emotional."

But she was supposed to be the strong one. The smart one. The level-headed stoic, certainly in contrast to her over-wrought kin. The Crisis, no one called it merely 'Bunny Fever' or "Bunny Flu' anymore, had brought her one real weakness to the fore. Faced with a problem, she was all about the solution. But if it became insoluble, she didn't get so much frustrated as angry. And feeling helpless in the face of such overwhelming tragedy had left her chronically furious.

She'd put on her professional happy face and go about her duties, oh so dutifully. But underneath she seethed in muffled rage. She was the brightest and the best of the ZPD, there to make the world a better place. And all she could do was stand by while others died. Of course, she chose to ignore or dismiss those accomplishments she had made in the care of the sick or dying.

Nick had been her one refuge from all that. He had been her strength, and her distraction. He was her goof, her off shift companion, her groomer, her cuddle buddy, her lover. They'd been a close couple for a while now, and their intimate times had been rare and special moments. But now she had demanded sex several times now just to forget for a few impassioned moments.

No. That wasn't true. She had to admit it was not the erogenous thrill or even the comfort of that closer than close. It was that, for a moment, she could pretend it was a procreative act, a contribution to life, a very maternal impulse that she didn't know she had in her. Intellectually, she suspected it to be something of a left-over instinct, the desire to repopulate after personal or group loss.

The less said about the guilt in that unfulfilled fact for her, and her Fox, the better.

But now, Nick had the triplets, the living face of the Crisis, here. And he seemed perversely committed to them beyond his natural affection for youngsters.

She had to check on Nick. When he'd gotten his new apartment, he'd gone for two bedrooms half-anticipating the two of them becoming roomies. That they had gone beyond that meant the spare now was for guests, or in this case, the special circumstance. There he was, on his side, curled around the three little things, snuggled into his brush. In that respect it wasn't so different than their visits back to the Hopps warren, though there would more often be more like a dozen of the little fuzzies.

One of them, the boy, stirred. He looked around, his nose questing. Poor thing, sniffing for his mother, no doubt. He saw Judy and momentarily beckoned her, then stopped, regarding her with suspicion. Judy held out her paw to introduce herself and he cautiously gripped a digit and nibbled at her claw to see if she was edible. Finding that she was merely a bunny, he held his arms out to be picked up.

Judy tried, but was unpleasantly surprised at how much pain and how little function she actually had in her injured paw. She still awkwardly got him up and into her arms, and he seemed to enjoy the attention, though looked up at her in puzzled lack of recognition. Seeing Nick's nose begin to twitch, she left the room and brought the little guy to the kitchen to see if he was interested in something more substantial to eat.

A part of her felt like she was back with the family, as she'd help tend to her various younger kin innumerable times in the past. But this one was a bit different. Her 'race' were all a more common brown to light grey color, not this melanistic sport. His darker points were a bit like some of her kin though.

"So, what would you want for an early breakfast?" She cooed, and was delighted to see his face brighten with delighted surprise.

"Gaboo." He said.

"Sticks and Rocks? Are you sure?" 'Sticks and Rocks' being young tender shoots and crunchy seed and nut balls, more of a finger food treat than a regular breakfast item. But she thought she could get away with a little spoiling of the orphan.

And what were they going to do with these? That Social Services was overwhelmed was no surprise. With all the more nuclear families here in the city, kits didn't always have the kind of extended family to fall back to as they did back in the 'Burrow.

The Hopps compound was then nearly over-flowing in distant kin from all over the Tri-Burrows and beyond with youngsters and oldsters alike as too many of those in middle years were either helping in the crisis or themselves victims. There had even been talk of Nick and Judy taking in a few kin for the duration, a notion that got nowhere even before Judy had a chance to object, with Bonny and too many of her Aunts insisting that they needed to keep everyone close for their special attention.

She watched him gnaw away at the treat. From what little Nick had told her, and likely what little was known, these poor things were going to be a particularly awful legal challenge. With so little to go on, finding blood kin would be awful, and only when that was exhausted could anyone consider adoption. In the meantime, an orphanage or foster care would have to do.

Judy had a bad feeling about that. Nick seemed determined to hang on to them, at least for the time being. She knew he loved all little kids, regardless of species. The joke being that he was still one himself so could relate all too well. Had he gone broody with the Crisis and all? She understood her reaction, but for Nick, a fox, didn't seem quite right.

And there was the other thing. Nick's proposal. Not the most romantic situation or delivery, but he finally asked and she'd said yes. Of course. At any other time it would a massive thing, but at the moment, with everything else going on, all she could muster right then was a small, "It's about time."

The little boy added, "Bauthime!"

"I agree. But what are we going to feed your sisters?" He has still working on his treats, but that wouldn't do for proper meals. Judy looked around the kitchen for other young bunny appropriate food and figured out some shopping was going to have to be in order. And not just food. Other than a single blanket they were found in and a few diapers from the Precinct's emergency baby supplies, they had nothing at all for them.

She considered her paw again, and her general level of fatigue. Perhaps she ought to take a personal day? Mammal Resources and her Watch Commander would not be happy with her now rather marginal condition. They might even tattle on her to Bogo, and he was the one beast in her chain of command she really dreaded to have to deal with at the moment. Not and be in any position to negotiate with him over Nick's and her's evolving relationship that was already technically way over the line regarding policy.

"Blah! Goo poo poo!" The boy exclaimed with a sour face. A point Judy matched when she discovered he needed a change.

"Tell you what stinky boy, looks like both of us could use a proper shower."

"'Ower, 'ower, 'ower." He chanted.

They got going in the shower, the little guy loved the spray, stamping his feet and flailing his arms in delight. Judy stood over him, more taking in the soothing warmth than worrying too much about the washing at the moment. She trailed her arms to channel rivulets of water on his head and he squealed oh so happily at that. Oh Glob, how she missed that with her own kin back in the day, as there simply too many bunnies to afford many private showers.

Then a clatter in the bathroom. Nick in pee-zombie mode. Not really awake, but in need of taking care of biology. His proper wake up time wasn't for a little while yet and he staunchly resisted any semblance of wakefulness any earlier than necessary. Having done his business, he stopped, as though puzzled as to why were the lights on and the room all steamy. He peered into the shower stall and shook himself more awake.

"Madame Hopps. I am shocked. Shocked I say. Carousing with some strange male, not your intended. What would poor Master Wilde think if he were to discover your indiscretion?"

The male in question recognized Nick and squealed, "Spoo! Nick! Boosh!"

"I heartily agree. But that was outlawed long ago." Nick turned to regard Judy. "You okay?"

Judy gave him an apologetic little smile. "It's kind of hard to be all up when they need a diaper change." She then added, "I think I'm going to take a day, mainly for me." She held up her battered paw. "But we'll be needing things even if we keep the terrible trio for even just a few days."

Nick looked at her hopefully. Was it that she was getting better, or the prospect of her warming up to the kits? She had to smile back, dumb fox.

"You'd better get back to the bedroom, as I'll bet there are two young ladies who are wondering where their bed-warmer went." Which brought a joking leer from Nick. "And a likely need of changing too." Which brought on a spectacular act of crushing despair.

Then Judy spent a good while drying the two of them off. He liked the attention and seemed a cheerful little beast, but would pause at times to look and sniff at Judy, perhaps in hope she had changed into his mother or something.

She resisted the urge to hug him, but did pick him up and carry him to - ah, the living room, where the small batch of baby stuff had been left. And there was Nick, examining his handiwork. Fresh little bunnies.

"Ya know, they probably could have used a shower too before putting on new diapers."

To which, Nick gaped and blushed deeply.

"Oh, like you've never shared a shower with a bunny before."

"I didn't think they were that bad, for the moment." And he demonstrated a hearty sniff at the two. Judy had to laugh at the slight flicker in his reaction. They were 'okay', at least to his indiscriminate sense of 'clean', but they likely could use some attention before the day was out.

"And they are likely hungry too."

"Think they'd like that bit of left-over pizza?"

"Nick!" Said in real concern. "That greasy mess would go right through them in the worst way."

Seeing his alarmed reaction and reminder head slap, she knew that the Dumb Fox could forget that rabbits couldn't deal well with two of his basic food groups, sugar and grease. She could cope with a little nibble on occasions, but didn't dare consider anything like that for the little ones.

"There are a few of the young shoots left. The boy didn't eat them all."

Nick went into the kitchen to fetch the food. "You know, we ought to call them something more than 'the boy' and 'the two'.

"And I'll bet you already have ideas?"

Nick returned with some goodies for all of them and a somewhat guilty expression. "Yes - ."

At that, some of the anguish of the day before came back. Nick was getting way too invested in these three and in that Judy had a sudden worry for his sake.

"Nick. You know we can't keep them."

Nick tried to make a childish pout, but she could see a twinge of pain behind it.

"I know." He lied. "But I thought we could use them as a dry run, so to speak." More lies, with a touch of desperation.

Judy fought the various reaction urges. She so needed a respite from everything. She was so tired, and her paw ached, and - . Finally, a weak whine. "Nick. I'm going to bed. Call the precinct that I'm taking a day - or two." She looked to her fox, "And you can bring the nightmares in with you when they're done."

While she still dreaded how this might end for Nick's sake, she wasn't going to begrudge his immediate desire. And they weren't awful, as kits go. But, with everything else going on at the moment, it was just too much.

Later, Judy woke feeling a bit better, having her big red bed-warmer at her back helped. And an added detail, the three were snuggled up against her, buried in Nick's brush. How could she object to that? Seeing them still stung a bit, and she was still worried about Nick. But there were immediate issues that needed to be attended to. She extricated herself, leaving everyone to snooze a bit longer.

She put herself together for some shopping, hopefully to just be Citizen Hopps, an anonymous bunny in the big city. But, of course, she had her badge and comm in her purse, resisting the urge to bring more of her tactical kit too.

Baby hardware first. Along with more diapers, they needed some outfits. Nothing 'gendered' though. She fleetingly considered novelty elephant styled onesies, like Finnick's old costume, though scaled for the tiny ones. But, instead found some in a rather good match to Nick's base color. He might appreciate that. Then pieced together some other outfits that ought to work.

While roaming the aisles, she came across a fox couple with a tiny kit in a baby sling across the father's body. She approached, ears up and eyes wide in delight. "Hi. Can I ?" Her interest all too obvious.

The parents cocked their heads in canid puzzlement, compounded by some ill-concealed nose action. Nick was likely strong on her. The mother smiled and looked to her Mate, who cautiously leaned down for Judy to get a better peek.

"She's so precious." Judy whispered. The kit was little more than a newborn, and had the smoky grey of such rather than the rich reds of her parents. "Thank you ever so." Judy's eyes were a bit wet, the little thing was so wonderful, and so unobtainable for her and Nick.

As though she could read her thoughts, the mother reached out to touch Judy's arm in comfort. "Be as happy as you can with your mate."

"Thanks. We will."

Well, that was an unexpected little thing, and Judy wasn't entirely sure she wanted that kind of encounter at the moment. But she did, and it got her thinking about all the things she didn't want to be thinking about.

On to groceries.

Only the Very Healthy stuff. Nick would have complained about how boring rabbit food could get, but despite stereotypes, they were grazers by nature and biology, so carrots and other sugary root veggies were actually right out. So the basket for check out looked more like it was full of lawn and garden clippings than 'groceries'. The check out clerk was surprised to see the mix of fox favorites in there too.

The small bottle of whiskey was a dangerous detail, but she wasn't keen on more overtly pharmaceutical sleep aids, and suspected the bad days were still not over. And, truth be told, despite her image as a teetotaler, thought there was That Party, she actually liked the rare occasional taste of the nasty stuff.

She had to talk to Nick about that too. She knew he actively avoided anything like inebriation, being the one sober creature in the crowd had saved himself more than once in the bad old days. So she needed him to keep an eye on her. Several of her kin had gone down the spiral of self-medication leading to alcoholism and worse, and she was afraid of the temptation in herself. But not so much not to have bought the damn thing.

Then home again, home again, jiggity jog.

And there was Nick at the kitchen table, beating on his ZPD laptop. She didn't want to know about what he might be looking up. And then she noticed the various odds and ends objects on the table, and on top of the bookcases and counter tops.

"Nick?" She gestured to the new decorations.

"They walk, and like to grab and try to eat anything within reach. Including power cords and a few of your books."

"oh. And where are they now?"

"I have them sequestered in the back bedroom for the moment. And wedged the closet closed, least they pull down and either try to eat or try to nest in everything they can pull off the hangers."

At that, there was an all too happy squeal from the room.

They shared an "uh oh."

And found that the trio had pulled all the bedding off the mattress, including the fitted sheets, and were then burrowing around through the piles.

"I knew I put them in here somewhere." Nick feigned astonishment.

"Well, I'm going to put away the groceries and get all the new bunny gear unpacked. You get to excavate the little brutes and, as long as the bed's torn down, put on clean sheets."

"A fox's work is never done." With a theatrical flourish.

Judy had the food put away in short order, then risked a peek at Nick's laptop. Yes, it was record summaries on the mother. And as bad as she feared. Dawn Scampert had apparently been raised in what used to be an old-school hippy commune warren, so her own linage was all but unknowable. Then, other than some minor Social Service notations, she'd sought medical assistance a few times while as an indigent; she had no record of any kind.

No record of the triplet's birth wasn't unprecedented, but there was likely a maternal genetic check pending now, just to make sure they were really hers.

Nick had talked a bit about street life; some of it was a bit sketchy, petty crimes, small hustles, Nick's own 'business' activities. But it was also about individuals who simply wanted to live off the grid, away from the conformities of modern urban life and 'The System'. She may well have been doing real work, just off book, undocumented jobs of various kinds.

But how did she get into that apartment to die?

And how was the death being categorized? 'Special Circumstances', which meant a formal investigation, more in order to deal with the kits and answer the hows and whys of her last days. Interesting, as that might more a job for Social Services. Perhaps the ZPD was offering a helping paw, as Social was likely swamped with similar cases at the moment. Unless there was something else involved?

The detective division was separate from the regular officer's end of the precinct, so she didn't really know them, aside from some small contact in the fallout of the Bellwether plot and a few other cases since. Part of her wondered about asking around, if there was more information or if she could help. Most investigations needed more mammal hours of time than could ever actually be available for really thorough grind throughs.

But not right now.

And she steeled herself from the temptations of getting too involved. It would likely all end in tears anyway. And there was already too much demanding of her already.

Her attention was broken by happy squeals. Nick was stampeding the little things out of the bedroom and back towards her.

"Nicholas Piberius Wilde!" Judy loudly admonished, "It will not do to have you get your intended trampled by a herd of wild bunnies."

"I thought they came as a 'bury', certainly your kin back in the 'Burrow were such."

She had to give him a raspberry for that, mimicked by all three.

"Now we have a choir." And with that, Nick began to swing his arms as though conducting, while attempting to do a raspberry something that sounded just a bit like the 1812 Overture. The three were overjoyed, and attempted to follow, punctuated with the occasional squeal and laugh.

Much later, with the little ones zonked out and Judy lazing in Nick's arms, Judy dared ask. "So, what were the names you had in mind for the beasts?"

"Well, the boy, being a bunny, I though Johnathan* Stuart. If he had been a fox, Stuart Johnathan."

Judy pulled away to give Nick a better face to face.

"And for the girls, Bonny Nichole for the grey and Mary** Judith for smoky."

"Assuring no one in the families could ever object."

"Well, yeah!"

* Several sources have John as Nick's father, though I don't know if that is approximately canon.

** As I can't get any consensus for Nick's Mom's name, I'm punting.

 **And I'll be doing more, but want to get caught up on some of the other story lines first.**


	3. Chapter 3

After a few days of recovery, Judy was ready to go back to duty, relieved to be out of the apartment with Nick and the triplets. It wasn't 'bad'. Nick seemed to really be enjoying himself in the role of caregiver to them.

She tried to not think how this was likely going to end, and felt guilty that she was keen on seeing their status finalized. And in that, she fretted over why she was so off about them.

The first and most obvious point was that they did remind her of the on-going crisis and the ever-growing body count in the city and around the world. And by extension, her frustration and anger over her inability to DO anything about it.

Was that a little crazy? An over-reaction to the passive despair she felt after her inflammatory comments those years ago? Then becoming the Hero-Savior of Zootopia, and feeding an over-weaned sense of accomplishment that got her into trouble with some subsequent cases.

But she was over that, wasn't she?

Or was it something deeper?

Nick had become her great and only love. But. She was also a Doe, and as much as she dismissed talk of instinct, Does bare kits. With their mates. And that wasn't going to happen with her and Nick. That alone was it's own little kernel of grief.

The triplets were not hers, and so, by extension, shouldn't be his. She cringed at that even being a thought. Was she so ungenerous, so jealous in her affection?

Or could it all be that, with so many other stressors in her life right now, they were simply too much for her to handle?

As she approached Precinct One, she suddenly realized she had another matter to face. Nick's proposal and her acceptance. That was going to be it's own nightmare, both officially and in the social interactions with her fellow officers.

Starting with Clauhauser.

At least he didn't squeal when she came through the doors.

"Officer Clauhauser." She said flatly. "Yes, Officer Wilde and I are finally talking about getting formal in our relationship, and at any other time, I'd share your enthusiasm." She saw him visibly deflate from his barely contained glee. "But right now we're still in a deathly crisis and I'd rather concentrate on that for the moment."

Though looking hurt, the Cheetah nodded, "I understand. And you know the whole precinct is behind you on everything."

Judy tried to smile, "I know and I still love you all. It just has been really awful, and isn't over yet." She was relieved to see him recover, just a bit.

Then she had to check in with the Watch Commander.

"Glad to see you back with us, Hopps." Unlike Chief Bogo, or because of him, Commander Slaton seemed a faint cipher of a mammal, an able administer and tactical manager, yet overshadowed by his sometimes micro-managing superior.

"Sorry to let you down, sir."

"Hardly, given the circumstances. Your paw up to the task?" He looked with small concern at Judy's still nasty looking appendage. He was too polite to go into anything else unless she was willing to mention it.

"Sore but functional. And I'd like to get back to regular patrol duty, if I can."

"And some semblance of normalcy? As Wilde is still out, all I have is Snarlov for you to partner with. That or parking duty."

Sgt. Snarlov wasn't the chattiest officer on duty, which would be just fine right now. And, unlike some of the other large and senior officers, genuinely respected her law-enforcement prowess from the get go. Judy couldn't help but wonder about some kind of Ice Bear grape vine, with her academy instructor Freidkin at the other end.

"Snarlov is fine."

Slaton still had one issue before dismissing the Bunny. "About Wilde. I suspect all of the ZPD knows about your intentions by now. And that is going to be a problem."

"I kind of figured."

"Even though you two have proven to not be a problem together on duty, that there hasn't been push back from various quarters has been due more to how they still don't take you seriously as officers." They shared a sour expression at that. "But, if you were to get married, or if even your cohabitation got public, there would be those out there ready to make a stink about it and break you up as partners."

Judy suspected that already, though found it heartening that Slaton was reiterating his support for them. The worst part of all that much of the objections would be coming, not out of any actual concern for their performance, or even issues of policy, but simple petty abuse. Hurting them simply because they could.

Back when she first sought becoming a police officer, she had no idea that she was walking into such a socio-political shit storm. The Mammal Inclusion Initiative was already a nasty partisan battle, and she brought with her the hot buttons of species, class and gender from the moment she put on the blue. Her catastrophic moment before the press was even worse.

Later, bringing down Bellwether, she got into a whole new area of controversy, as the Ewe's scheme had not formed in a vacuum, and only her methods, not her intent, was considered an issue for too many.

Finally, there was poor Nick. His advancement to the ZPD as a fox, regardless of his background, highly de-emphasized in the official record, brought on a new wave of issues for those keen on such.

But, now, there they were, and no good way out seemed inevitable.

But Judy noticed a little something in Slaton.

"While it will be Bogo who will have to force it through, there isn't nearly the couples versus partners issue among detectives. We've discussed some fast track options." He offered with a shrug. "And, in the meantime, with the continuing crisis, and the sympathies raised by it, the administration is finally willing to spend some political capital to give you a bit more backing."

Judy wanted to growl at that. She disliked politics as too much of it seemed so under-pawed to her way of thinking, skirting or abusing the law for needlessly partisan maneuvering.

"So, if you can maintain a low profile and hold off anything like actually getting married for a little while, congratulations in that, we might be able to keep you two together and promoted to where you could do even more good."

00000

Gah. How Finnick hated seeing Nick at his place. It was too open and obvious, too vulnerable for his secretive taste. That, and he knew the dumb dog and That Rabbit had been under intense surveillance in the months after the whole Bellwether business, for their own safety, so they said. But he was just paranoid enough to worry just a bit that even now his approach was being watched and recorded by unsympathetic forces.

But Nick had insisted for 'very good reasons' and he was willing to take the chance.

"Open up, ya dumb pup!"

And there was the big goof, and what the hell? Peeking out from behind Nick's legs are three little bunnies.

"Nick-nick?" One asks. And then the others chime in, "Nick-nick, nick-nick, nick-nick!" All the while looking at him, wide eyed, ears up, and noses working something fierce.

"I suspect they think you're some kind of Nick variation, as you're only the second fox they've ever seen." The big dummy explained.

"Is this why you called me over, some kin'a baby-sitting gig?" That was so not happening.

"At some point, that'd be a possibility." Then judging by his expression, "Or maybe not."

"They're not That Rabbit's, so what's up?"

"Their mother got the flu and I'm taking care of them for now." Nick tired to be cool but Finn could tell there was more than 'for now' in the big dummy.

"Uh huh." Then Finn yelped. Someone, one of the bunnies, was in his brush. "Gimme that!" And in snatching his tail away, the terrible little brute looked like it was getting ready to cry. "Oh Glob, Wilde, and I'll bet ya let 'em sleep in yours too." And he grudgedly let the bunny glom back on his tail, which, of course, signaled the rest to latch on as well.

"Jeebus! How can ya live like that?"

"It isn't so bad after a while, and I always find handy distractions." He gave Finn his biggest shit-eating grin at that.

While Finn was no father figure by any means, there was a little something-something in the awful little things trying to snuggle up to him. He sighed and motioned Nick to lead the way further into the apartment.

"So, what is up?"

"Like I said, their mother got the flu. And died. But she was seriously off-grid, and I need help trying to track anything down on her."

So he was going total Goode Two-Shoes, all That Rabbit's fault. Well, maybe. The big dummy always had a soft spot for real sob stories. Woe be it for anyone to try and play him though. Even in blue, his wrath could be breathtaking. Perhaps even more so now in blue, added to his theatrics, he knew exactly, to the millimeter, how far up to the line he could go, and his victims didn't.

But, as he was now too well known as a cop, there were places he couldn't go and mammals he couldn't reach anymore.

"Wha'da'ya have on her so far?"

Nick fanned out a meager spread of printouts. Glob she was young. Even her morgue image. And there is so next to nothing. The was a presumption of her having a part-time job or two, all off-book, then something happened and she needed really cheap/free living space. A vague friend of a friend suggested she crash in a friend of a friend's apartment while off on a temporary out of town gig.

"You're kiddin'?"

"That's it. That's why I'm asking." But there was something more in the big dummy. He was more than just junior ranger scout Nick with this. Something almost paternal, and that was something he swore he'd never take the chance on.

"And here's a little something to help." And Nick handed him a wad of cash, at least a whole Kay.

"Have you gone totally off yer nut? Seriously, what is wrong with you?"

"Come on, I know you're going to have expenses doing this." Dammit, the big dummy didn't have many tells, he was always really good about that, but now he was sure there was something else in play here.

"Nick?!"

The big dummy finally broke, and Finn instantly regretted that he pushed him, seeing the grief in his face. A rather long pause.

"It was just like Marnie."

OHELLNO! Finn immediately poofed in rage. First, he fought the urge to cram the wad of bills into that son of a bitch's various orifices, then grabbed the printouts, grudgingly, and stomped out of the apartment with a final "Fuck You, Wilde!" as he slammed the door behind him.

The little desert fox was seething. That fucker had uttered That Name. Why didn't he just shoot him instead? Getting gut shot was easy compared to hearing That Name. Between tears and rage, Finnick blindly made his way back to his van. He never parked it close by; usually a couple metro stops away, just to be sure.

"So, how's Nick doing?"

Finn dreaded the police, for what they'd done to him in the bad old days, and what they could do to him still, and with bitter experience, he learned to always keep it cool. But in that first instant, his impulse was to deliberately assault That Rabbit, knowing how thoroughly she could give him a beat down and then send him off to the grinder.

But with That Name still burning in him, and with the awful mission the son of a bitch had saddled him with, he restrained and recovered.

"He jus' got a bad case o' bunnies." He tried to sound calm, casual, but he could tell that she could tell that wasn't a joke.

"Finn, I'm worried about him too. We've dealt with lost kits, and some orphans before, but this is different."

He considered That Rabbit. He didn't actually hate her, too much investment in that. And if he wanted to get really honest, his resentment of her was more like jealousy; she'd taken away his boy. But, to be fair, she had been good to the big dummy, mostly, and he didn't begrudge that. So he was going to be generous and lay a little truth on her. Not the parts that really matter, but enough.

"Did you know that, for some foxes, sometimes, it's the dog who's the quality time caregiver? Maybe somepin' ta do with the mom keepin' herself up for nursin', but it's dad who's puttin' in the time, keepin' the kits healthy, and lovin' every second of it." Yeah, he could see the lights coming on.

"Fer the longest time, Nicky-boy had all kinds o' daddy issues, the worst bein' he didn't wanna fail like his dad. Though truth be told, it was bad breaks, no fault of the old dog, that things went the way they did." Finn thought glumly of the earliest days with Nick as a kit. "An' Nick's nature was to be that kind o' care freak."

"So, Nick and these bunnies?"

"Weirder shit's happened."

Judy had to think about that.

She had wanted to find the desert fox to talk about Nick's issues anyway. Finding his van was dumb luck while on patrol, and she insisted Snarlov drop her off there. It was close enough to end of shift to not be an issue. The van was suspiciously away from his usual hangouts and only a few metro stops from their place seemed clear that he was visiting. All she had to do was wait.

That he showed up in such a state was a surprise. He was a lot more wary than that, usually. She wasn't going to pry, and what little he revealed seemed to answer a lot of questions.

But it wasn't good news. Nick's over-investment with them would only be that much worse when it was over. But, there was something about the idea of Nick being a potential super-dad. But how was that ever going to happen?

There had been not so subtle hints for her to consider getting broody herself and put out some kits of her own, regardless of formal relationships or even paternity. More of the replenish the species thing. But that was really crazy talk, as in over all terms; the crisis had not taken some critical percent of the total population. Moreover, what was needed was more foster parents, as it mostly parent-aged rabbits who had been hit the worst.

Judy groaned. It all came back to the three crisis kits in their apartment.


	4. Chapter 4

**As always, it felt a bit haphazard, but finally got some more out.**

"In health news, the epidemic has been officially declared over, with no new cases in the last twenty days throughout the wider jurisdiction. Internationally, the last of the hot spots are now well contained and health officials expect the last cases there to be resolved by the end of the month. The material costs world wide have been estimated in the billions, but worst have been the -"

Judy sadly turned the news feed off on her 'pad. More than twenty rabbits she knew by name were gone, and nearly the same number had likely permanent cardio-pulmonary damage with bleak prospects. Now all there was to face was aftermath. She tapped the ring on her finger against the 'pad considering what that included.

She watched Nick herd the three little bunnies out from daycare to the car. There was still a tiny dread in seeing those sweet little things, their status as orphans was still on hold, and Judy feared for Nick's sake for any news.

"Look what I found! It was a buy two, get one free sale!" Nick gushed. Each day was a similar joke. The triplets would giggle and laugh, and Judy would grin. Though more for Nick's exuberance. He was so jazzed at being a father. Now all these months on, he had not lost his focus on them. If anything, they had bonded more and more to each other, which only increased his devotion to them.

For a thirty-something long term bachelor fox, not known for his domesticated ways, Nick might well have become the perfect house husband and stay at home father to the three. But that would mean leaving his Sweet Carrots without him as partner. Fortunately, the city offices adjacent to the ZPD precinct had a very good day care center, so Nick could take his lunch or coffee breaks next door for more contact with the three.

She watched Nick strap them into their 'personal crash modules' and, this time, climb up beside her in front. Judy stifled a laugh as she peeked from the rear-view mirror at the rather sophisticated huffs of disapproval from the three; Nick was 'suppose to' sit back with them all the time.

"So, what does bring you up here to ride with the adults?" As she pointed to the back and pantomimed their displeasure.

"Was thinking about things."

"Things?"

"Visiting the 'Burrow things."

Judy made a face.

"Well, it has been a while, and we didn't really have much of a chance to celebrate our thing." Nick rapped his ring against the steering wheel as Judy drove. He looked at her, hopefully.

Judy didn't want to whine, and didn't want to say no, but Nick could tell she was conflicted, and knew why.

"I know you don't want to get the Family too invested in the terror triplets too soon. But your Mom wants to meet them - "

"My Mom!?" Judy was shocked. "When did you?"

Nick gave his Wife such a look. "I've been 'phoning or Furbooking her at least weekly since, I dunno, last Spring? Giving her those little independent updates have been such a comfort to her."

"So the Great Conspiracy was not a one time thing?"

Nick gave her his best smug grin.

Judy had to stop and consider that revelation. Her Mother's calls and letters Had become less fretful that past year, and she seemed to have been oddly more up to date on things.

"Okay." Judy sighed, "I ought to give you a belated thanks for that."

But Nick could tell that Judy still wasn't entirely happy with the prospects. "What's up now or still?"

Judy let slip a little whine. "It shouldn't be a thing, but it is. All of this - " She gestured to the triplets, the car, her ring, "Was, I hate to use the word 'forced', but I didn't get to chose any of it. I mean, sure, getting married was great, but Having to do it right then to qualify as foster parents for them was, ya know - ?"

"Yeah. I know what you mean. Circumstances pile up and you don't have control." Nick reached over to give her a little supportive touch. "And I know how much you need that. I just hope you don't have any regrets in the end? That, regardless how you got there, the results are still what you'd want?"

"Yeah." Judy turned to glance back at the terrible trio. "Even though they're still in limbo, they are the cutest things." Judy looked to her Fox and they both smiled at the joke.

And in that instant, she saw the flicker of motion.

The impact was too abrupt to really process, an explosion of shock and sound, and only then the terrible slow-motion aftermath of flying debris and the car spinning out of control. Then everything stopped and there was a breif, terrible pause, with only the clatter and ping of crushed metal and dying machinery.

Judy pushed the half-deflated airbags away from her to check on - "Nick!" He slumped awkwardly from his lap and shoulder belts, unresponsive, and a smear of blood on the side curtain airbag. "No! No! No!" Judy carefully checked, he was breathing and had a reasonable pulse. She couldn't immediately tell were the blood came from. Then she noticed that the passenger side of the car, the front quarter panel and door, were badly stove in. She wanted to unbuckle Nick, but didn't know how badly he was hurt and didn't want to impart any unnecessary motion to his body.

She had to call this in, and in glancing around for her 'phone, remembered the three kits in the back seat.

The carrier seats looked undisturbed and there was no sign of visible injury in the three, though they were frozen in fear. "Oh glob!" Judy got out of the car and glanced around, a medium sized mini van had broadsided their little compact. The driver was half-seated in his open door, shaking his head, but apparently unhurt. A couple of other vehicles had stopped and their passengers were approaching, hoping to help.

Judy got the three carriers out of the car, and immediately began to nuzzle each in turn to get them out of their fear rigor. Once they responded, she then turned back to Nick. He was still out, but was breathing regularly. She found her 'phone.

"Officer Down! Off duty two vehicle accident! Need immediate medical for Wilde!" Then Judy had to stop and collect herself, those first words had been shrieked in near hysteria. She then continued in a more conventional fashion to report location and possible condition of all involved. She called out to a couple beasts who were seeing to the other driver. They indicated that he seemed okay, just shook up.

As she waited for emergency services to arrive, she looked out at the crash scene and realized what had happened. She groaned and banged her head on the remains of her car. In the moment's distraction with the triplets and Nick, she'd run a stop sign to a fairly blind intersection. The other driver wouldn't have had a chance to stop with her bolting in front of him.

Such an idiot mistake, doubly so as she was an otherwise excellent driver, always alert, always ever so contentious. This was going to be so bad on so many levels.

It only took a couple more minutes for the first EMT vehicle to arrive, along with a couple ZPD cruisers.

One of the Med Techs came up to her. "You okay Ma'am?" And wanted to check her for typical impact strain injuries. Judy waved him off.

"I'm ZPD and I'm fine. Check on the Fox. Thirty-four years old and in very good health. He's been unconscious since the accident, about three, four minutes ago?"

Getting Nick out of the wreak and secured on a back board, just to be safe was a bit of challenge, the Med Techs were too big to get into the compartment from the driver's side and had to tear off the crushed passenger side door in order to ease him out. The smear of blood appeared to have been from hopefully minor head and nose and mouth wounds. As she explained his posture immediately before the crash, an awkward position relative to his lap and shoulder belts, they suspected he might have neck and spine issues, but the hospital was the proper place to confirm that.

As one Med Tech got Nick ready for transport, one of the others took a quick peek at the triplets. Thankfully they were mostly subdued by all the action, confused by all the unfamiliarity of the situation.

Then a ZPD officer came up. As this was second shift for a different precinct, he didn't recognize Judy. "Ma'am, there was an officer down call to this?"

Judy groaned and pulled out her badge, "Judy Hopps, first precinct. It's Officer Wilde who's down." She pointed at Nick being loaded in the aid car. "And this," She waved at the overall scene, "Was an off duty officer involved vehicle accident. Basically my fault."

While the officer, Dewitt, a bear, had an initial glimmer of recognition at her name, his face clouded at her admission. "This is going to look awfully bad." He made a suggestive eyebrow rise.

At that, Judy regained her full focus. "You Will Dutifully Record and Report my statement, Partolmammal Dewitt." She near whispered, though more a hiss, her fury at his implication all too obvious. She had heard that some officers were willing to bend the rules to accommodate or cover for their fellows, but to suggest she would - .

He nodded stiffly and pulled out a preliminary report form for her to fill out. He then went through the formal notifications and procedures she needed to go through, not only as a basic accident report, but also as a police conduct investigation. Very coolly professional.

"Thank you, Officer." Judy finished much more politely.

He nodded and backed off.

One of the Med Techs who had seen to Nick returned to let her know they were ready to go.

"Yeah, I'm his wife and they are his kids. We'll be going in with him."

The Leopard only cocked an ear just a bit at that and helped get the triplets aboard.

Judy sat across from her Fox. He was on oxygen, and the monitors showed that he was not in major crisis, though persistent unconsciousness was not a good thing.

Then she began to brainstorm what was needed to do next. Whatever it took regarding Nick, of course. Then insurance, crash investigation, performance review, mountains of paperwork.

One of the triplets, Bonny, whimpered.

"Oh glob! You guys!" She'd completely forgotten them. She picked up Bonny to see if she needed anything. And in that moment, she was reminded at one other little detail that colored her reaction to the three. Whenever she approached them, they'd initially react in happy recognition, Judy looked superficially like their mother, then after a querious sniff, reacted with a bit of disappointment.

Bonny was okay, just needed attention. Of course, seeing her having gotten some the other two now clamored for some too.

At this point, Nick would make some bad joke.

"Bonny," Judy gravely address the tiny kit, "This is the kind of thing you're going to have to expect with that silly Fox." She held her up to see his still form, "He'll do anything to get out of taking care of his chores."

Bonny perked up immediately upon seeing her Fox. "Nick! Wanna Nick!" She demanded, then, her nose quivering, she suddenly began crying. And not the simple fussy demanding kind, but the full on grief/pain wail. Which, of course, set off the other two.

It took only a second to realize why, and the Med Techs and Judy all responded in unison. "The blood!"

Nick had only a little spatter and smear of blood on him, but the triplets were only now picking up on it. One of the Med Techs began opening windows while the other brought out a can of Mask-all and began spraying it around.

"Ooh, that's loud enough to wake the dead." Came a faint croak from under the oxygen mask.

"Nick!" Judy lunged forward to his side, then had to pause, the Med Tech saw her situation and took Bonny. The Kit looked in fascinated awe at the big leopard, "Benny?" She'd met Clauhauser before, perhaps this was a variation?

"I'm so, so sorry!" Judy gripped her Fox's paw in hers.

"uhm - What happened?" Nick was still trying to grasp where he was and what was happening around him.

"I ran a stop sign and we got broadsided." Judy felt herself loosing it, "Nick, I almost - " And she broke to whimper in grief and shame.

Nick looked first to his poor Bunny then to the Med Tech holding Bonny. "Everyone alright?"

"Yeah, the little ones seem fine, just upset." The big cat tried to look up beat, and held Bonny up. "You're a bit bashed, indeterminate injuries. Been unconscious for a little while too."

Nick gave him a thankful nod and then refocused on his Sweet Carrots. "You're all in one piece, so don't worry." Then simply murmured to her in a soothing tone while stroking her ears as best he could while still plugged into the support equipment.

The Med Techs exchanged looks. They'd seen all manner of tragedies with family members and knew it best to simply be invisible. Seeing the still fussy kits, the Leopard handed off Bonny to his partner, a warthog. He then pulled up Mary and John who both gave him the 'are you Benji' reaction as well.

The trip to the Hospital is mercifully short and there is the expected flurry of activity of getting Nick in-processed. Judy switched back to officer mode long enough to get the paperwork done, then was torn between staying by her Fox's side or attending to the triplets. But seeing that Nick was well in hand and that the triplets, Mary in particular at the moment, were becoming a fussy pawful for one of the ER nurses, she made her choice.

Judy half-wished there were some of her fellow officers from the precinct on hand. But the incident had been de-escalated to just an officer-involved accident and the word had not gone out to her now off-shift comrades. And just as well, as she felt mortified in her lapse that had caused all this.

And an added twinge, in all her time in the city, she really didn't have any friends beyond her working acquaintances, or any family close by to be readily available when needed.

"You guys are going to be the death of me." She sighed as Bonny ran down the hall, again, while Mary and John squabbled over a fire truck toy they found glob knows where. At least Nick was okay. Well, as okay as a mild concussion and a lot of muscle strains were concerned. While he was currently in no pain, all the drugs saw to that, the Doctor warned that he'd be fiercely sore for the next few days. And it would be some weeks until he was back to normal after physical therapy.

And that meant Judy was going to have to play mother for the triplets for the time being. With day care, she could still see to her duties, though she expected she was going to have to go through some rather nasty administrative hurdles with the crash investigation. That couldn't help but get ugly. At least there was no press involved. Or at least she hoped so. Fairly minor vehicle accident and all.

She round up the threesome, funny, though there were only three, it seemed like they could multiply her attention demand. Then a last check in with Nick. He was now asleep, thankfully without a mass of plumbing, but there were nevertheless all manner of wiring, and all that promised that he was just fine. She carefully gave him a little peck on the muzzle and held up each of the kits to assure them that he was still there.

Then back home. Oh, turnips! What was left of the car was in police impound. Getting a taxi with multiple baby carriers was possible, but would take some time to get it dispatched. They had taken the metro before and the walk to the station would do Judy some good.

And surprise. There was Clauhauser waiting for her at the entrance of the hospital.

"Glad I found you. Heard about the accident and only now got back over." He gushed as he scooped up the three, much to their collective glee. "Nick's okay?"

Judy smiled. "You likely already know he is. Mostly shook up and likely going to spend the next couple here, just to be sure." She regarded him warmly. "How'd you know to find me here and now?"

"Secret Society of Dispatchers." He grinned.

The erstwhile effusive Cheetah was carefully quiet on the drive home until he finally offered. "You'll need some time to get things sorted out before you report in. I can get some of the paperwork started for you, get it on-line for you to fill out and stuff."

Judy began, "Thanks, but I ought to be able to be back first -" Then was cut off.

"Judy!" Clauhauser gave the Bunny a rather atypically stern expression, "You just got through a major crash. You're not physically injured, but there is going to be some emotional shock from that alone, and you just put your Fox in Hospital." He gave her pleading glance; she needed to acknowledge how substantial the impact really was. "And you're going to have to deal with The Three by yourself. Give yourself at least a day."

The one blessing of all the day's activity was that the trio were very tired by the end of it and were very much ready for bed after a belated and abbreviated diner. Thankfully, they were too tired to fuss about Nick not being there. Judy herself winced a bit at Nick's absence herself, but with the kits asleep, she finally had an opportunity to relax and recoup just a bit.

Clauhauser was right, of course. Judy began to list all the things she was likely going to have to deal with over the next days. Belatedly, she realized she hadn't contacted her family. Too late in the evening to actually call them, she sent a long Email message, hopefully answering enough question to not have them worry too much.

Finally, she had to call it a night herself. She'd slept alone before a time or two since they had become a couple, but not since they married, and she really missed her big red bed-warmer. His scent was a small comfort, but that reassuring warm mass, that presence, was oh so missing. She was a bit worried that she'd be too hyped and unable to settle down for sleep. There was that whiskey that might help, but she thought better than that, and mercifully did doze off without help. Her last thoughts were that the worst was over and only the pain in the tail details needed to be dealt with on the morrow.


	5. Chapter 5

The next morning was about what Judy expected, though she hadn't been overtly injured in the crash, she had a lot of strained muscles, aggravated by emotional stress and tension. She powered her way through first thing in the morning with the triplets, a pawful of painkillers didn't help enough, but things still needed to be done. As they demolished their breakfast, she checked her 'phone.

The message queue stopped at 250, only because the service had maxed out. She checked the first few, concerned friends and family asking about the situation and offering thoughts and prayers. She composed a general answer, briefly describing the situation as she knew it at the moment and did a reply all. That should do for the moment. She needed to go to the bathroom. She'd start a proper list of all the things she would need to be doing over the next several days, and began to mentally sort out some priorities.

A brief moment to let her body relax and do its thing. And in the moment, she incautiously loosened the desperately tight hold she'd had on herself and the floodgates of all her pent-up emotions burst. She cried, screamed, howled, and finally found herself whimpering on the floor, clutching at herself in exhausted pain. It was as though all the awful of the last months had finally escaped her. She still hurt, physically; perhaps it was just a little hyperventilation, a light-headedness, but also a sense of relief, of a burden let loose. But so tired.

Putting herself back together a bit, and there was the 'phone. She could never ignore a 'phone call. It was her Mother.

"Hi Mom." Judy croaked. She kept the 'phone to voice only.

"Judy - " It didn't take special Mom Powers for the Elder Doe to tell that her Daughter was not right. "How badly off are you?"

"I'll survive." She looked around; saw the three looking back at her, wary and quiet.

"Judith Lavern, please. I saw your messages, yesterday and this morning. You are not all right. How can you be with all that's happened? And hiding doesn't help."

"Yes, Mother." So tired. Too tired to argue. She turned on the camera function. Bonny's gasp made the little ones flinch.

"I'm coming in to help."

"Mom, nooo." Judy whined. She could manage, she could always manage. Nick was only going to be in hospital- oh glob, she had to see how he was doing. And the three would need attention. And she needed to get a rental car for the immediate future. Mary started to whimper.

"Judy." Bonny's tone changed, and it brought Judy's attention back. "I need to come see you - for my sake as well." While Judy must have looked a fright, she noticed the drawn look, the weight loss, the tired eyes of her erstwhile indefatigable Mother.

"Mom? What?"

"I need to get out of the warren for a while. The crisis is over, but we're still up to our necks in the aftermath." Judy knew that the Hopps compound had been a rallying point for the wider clan, and Bonny had been at the center of it all. The Matriarch had handled the worst of it, the personal tragedies and the practical logistics with her usual aplomb.

But once the acute crisis passed, there were the soul-crushing chronic leftovers, kin crippled and compromised by the disease, some needing intense day-to-day care. She had any number of the family to help, but she was still very much in the middle of it all. "For both our sakes, helping you with your situation will be a vacation in comparison for me. And I get to see you, Nick, even if he's in hospital, again, and the kits, finally."

"Okay." Judy conceded, no, surrendered. She was just too tired.

Bonny recognized that. "You won't have to do anything. I'll be driving in; figure having a car handy will save you some immediate hassles. I'll call when I'm on my way, likely get in tonight, okay?"

"Thanks."

Judy considered her 'phone. While she might otherwise welcome a visit from her mother or anyone of her family, she always resisted the necessity of asking for help. She was always the self-reliant one, the strong and independent one. But she also grudgingly acknowledged that this time she had wider responsibilities. Self-sacrifice was one thing, but there were others now who depended on her. She trudged over to Mary to see what was wrong.

The little thing reached up, imploring for a cuddle, "Want Nick." The other two gave her a look. Judy sat down among them and scooped them all into her lap. This time they snuggled right in, no hesitation.

"Yeah, we all want Nick." And she tapped in the contact for the hospital. No joy, Mr. Wilde was still very much asleep, though a perfectly healthy nocturnal beast's desire to sleep in, especially after traumatic injury. She left a message for him to call when he did wake.

"Well, Nick is being a lazy bones, so no Nick for now." Which was greeted with a collective pout. "And I'm still pretty dead on my feet at the moment. I I'm going to take a nap."

Despite her discomfort, she was able to get up still holding all three, though marveled how her Mother or any other Doe with kits could do such a thing. These little brutes were getting heavy. She plodded back to the bedroom and plopped the three on the bed, then curled up around them, spooning them as Nick would have spooned her. Though the three would otherwise be a bit restive, they seemed comforted, their noses picking up on Nick's left over scent.

"We all miss Nick. But you'll be getting to see gran-gran Bonny tonight." And in saying that she felt a renewed twinge. The three's status was still uncertain. She was provisionally their foster mother, but that could still change at any moment, and there was still a reluctance to get too emotionally invested. Though at the moment, she found herself finding a small comfort in the three little fluffs pressed up against her.

Ack, a 'phone call! Judy must have dozed off.

"Ollo?"

"Hey, Judymylove." It was Nick! "Just letting you know I'm still among the living." Seeing her disheveled appearance in bed, "You okay there?"

"Just a bit sore and tired. The beasts miss you." And she showed Nick's image to them. The three clamored at the 'phone, each demanding to be acknowledged. After a bit of that, Judy reclaimed the device. "My Mom is coming in tonight to help with things."

"Judy?" Nick's tone turned grave.

"It's not that bad, and Mom could use the break too. Things back at the 'Burrow have been kind of fierce."

"I know." Nick had had his own on going conversations with Bonny and likely knew as much or more about what was happening with the family. "Well, the docs here say they want to keep me under observation for another day or so. Want to make sure my lack of a brain didn't get too rattled. Since I only just woke up, I haven't been inundated with well-wishers from the department, yet. Who would have thunk it? But before I do, if you can manage it, it'd be nice..."

"Oh gosh yes!" Judy looked at the clock, it was just after noon. "Oh my -! I really slept in too. Was up early then took a 'little' nap." She rolled her head and shoulders, "Yeah, I'm feeling much better now. See you in just a bit." That was only half-true, she still hurt as much as ever, but she finally felt rested and much less tense.

"Okay you guys! We're going to see Nick, but you got to get cleaned up."

The three could get a bit fussy getting cleaned and dressed for an excursion, but the prospect of seeing the Great Floof that was Nick had them motivated. Then on to the metro for the trip across town. Though young, the three were very good about sticking together and next to Judy on the walk to the station, and then staying close in the car.

Then the wolf sat down across the aisle from them. Mary gave Judy a pleading look while Bonny and John struggled to restrain themselves from rushing over to get at the great grey wonder of a tail.

"No, you guys. Be polite. You can't go grabbing anyone's tail." Judy admonished, half to let the wolf know that she was aware of the kits' interest and perhaps warn him of the potential risk. Then more directly, "Their Foster Father's brush is their favorite thing in the world to cuddle with."

The Wolf cocked his head and his nose twitched. "A fox? Really?" He puzzled over that for a moment, then a realization. "Oh. The Disease?"

"'Fraid so." Judy sighed.

The Wolf made a sympathetic face, but shifted himself to keep his brush out of bunny range. "My cubs would have a fit if they found I'd been unfaithful."

Judy had to laugh at that and it became infectious to the Wolf and a few other mammals in the car who could not but overhear the exchange. Then all too soon, they were at their stop.

And there was Chief Bogo in the hospital lobby.

"Hopps. Glad to see you up and about. And the kits alright?" While the famously stoic Buffalo did have a more compassionate side, the circumstances of the moment made it awkward, so he remained a bit aloof, at least in tone.

"Thank you, Sir. Yes, they made it through without a scratch. And I'm - okay. I got the first round of documentation via Email from Clauhauser and ought to have it done and back to you by tonight."

"No rush on that. Better to get it right than quick. Depending on Wilde's prognosis, I'll be giving you a week after he gets discharged to make appropriate arrangements."

Judy was shocked by that. "Sir!? I understood that he isn't that badly hurt?"

Bogo made a face. "He doesn't seem to be. But policy says that after any kind of neurological injury, regardless of how minor, he'll need at least a couple weeks, perhaps as much as a month, before he can be cleared for duty."

"I - I understand." Judy lied. Angrily. But she needed to maintain an even strength, in front of her superior as well as the three now nervous kits.

"And what about me?"

"Were you drunk? On drugs? On a device?" Bogo was unreadable.

"No! Of course not."

"So why did you blow through a stop sign at a blind intersection?"

Judy cringed, "I was momentarily distracted." She glanced down at the three to imply why.

"With the visual clutter around the sign, you might have needed three to five seconds to see it before it was too late."

"That long." Judy considered. She was still looking at Nick when she saw the minivan, not aware that she was already in the intersection. "Yeah."

Bogo scoweled. "There will be paperwork. A formal reprimand. A permanent hit on your driving record. Likely a hike in you insurance." He then sighed. "You could have killed Nick, and worse." Looking down at the three, "And you know it, so I'm not going to belabor any of this. Take care of business and I'll see you when it's all done."

"Thank you, Sir." And that was that. Not at the top of her list of dread, but not as awful as it could have been, and now one less thing to fret over.

Judy and the triplets took the elevator to Nick's floor, where they found Snarlov waiting to go down.

"Ice Bear!" all three cheered. They'd met him before and delighted in the mountain of white. As they were watching the bizarre TV show, 'Three Bare Bears' they though he was connected with the TV Ice Bear.

"Hi, little bunnies! Judy!" Snarlov had an almost paternal affection for Hopps, and delighted to be referred to as "Uncle Shasha" by her to the kits. He knelt down and offered a huge paw to the triplets, each digit nearly as big as each bunny, and they each grabbed one, creating a dusky ring effect. He held out his paw to admire the fuzzy 'jewelry' and wiggled his digits to the delighted squeals of the three.

"They get so big." He marveled, turning to Judy. "You were lucky."

"I know, and I'm so sorry for everyone's sake."

"A thing that can happen. You will be taking care your yourself." Said pointedly. He could tell about her condition.

"My Mother is coming in to help. And it looks like we will both be off duty for a little while."

"Bogo mentioned." He ever so gently peeled the kits off his paw and indicated that he was ready to go. "We are all here for you." as he got on the elevator to go down.

"Bless you." Judy was not all that spiritual, but knew that the silly old bear was and would appreciate the sentiment.

Then on to Nick's room. And another officer, an unfamiliar face.

"Hey, Officer Hopps." Nick's little code for watch out, officialdom around. And the officer, a Wolf, had a clipboard and paperwork with him. "Officer Willard was just going over my version of events with the crash." Said with a sour face.

"Just recording his version of events." The Wolf informed. "And as we're basically done here, I'll take my leave." He nodded to Nick and then Judy and was gone.

"Ugh!" Nick flopped his arms in dismay. "Its like they can't trust the First and Bogo to do an honest investigation. It's not like it's some major crime or anything."

Judy sighed, "Well, on the one hand it happened on the Fourth's turf, so it has to be processed through them. But I can't help but wonder if someone is angling for something on us personally? That we're getting some extraordinary favoritism."

"Yeah, that we've been able to do what we've been doing, ya know, affronting the natural order and all that." Nick tried to not sound bitter at that. That they were now a formal couple was only the latest outrage for some, and only compounded the often-palpable hostility that he had to weather almost daily as a fox, in or out of uniform. "But for right now, let's enjoy our blasphemy. Come here you terrible little beasts!"

The three had held back while the stranger was present and were momentarily restrained in their glee, but that broke with Nick's invitation. They leapt on the bed and swarmed him, clutching at his neck and head to nuzzle and hug him.

Judy held back to let the little ones have her Fox all to themselves for the moment. Seeing the naked joy in him with these kits almost drowned her lingering concern over their status. But only almost. Losing them would all but kill him at this point, and she had to admit to having allowed herself more affection for them than what would be prudent. And in all that, she found herself resenting the cold calculation that she dared not relinquish.

Finally, "Alright, you three, now it's time to share." And she climbed up to give her Fox a little snuggle of her own. Then the five of them settled into a fluffle, each drawing on the proximity of the other for collective comfort.

Of course, it was too good to last, a 'phone call. Nick whispered a little grump, "Carrots, you are such a slave to that electric leash of yours."

Judy grumped back, "I'll remember that the next time you ring me at some awful hour of the night. Besides, it's my Mom." Then to her 'phone, "Hi Mom. What's up?"

"Hello! And you're with Nick. Hi, Nick!"

"Hello Ma'am." For all that they had known each other, Bonny was still very much 'Mrs. Hopps' or 'Ma'am', as Nick could never allow himself too much informality with the matronly Bunny.

"Well, all of you, I'm just calling to let you know that I'm in town already, and if you're still at the hospital, I can meet you there."

"Mom! How, why - ?"

"I was able to get away sooner than I originally planned, so no reason to tarry. Don't worry; I didn't desperately dash out after the call. Just some things fell into place earlier and so here I am."

"Okay, Mom. We'll be here."

"I wonder if she's bringing blueberries?"

Judy huffed, "Silly fox, they won't be in season for months."

Nick considered a dramatic whine, but instead drew his collection of bunnies close, "I'll just have to gobble you all up instead."

And there was much giggling.


	6. Chapter 6

**Sorry for the long delay, but chronic depression and sweltering weather made concentration on new content difficult**

Bonny Hopps had an unfortunate familiarity with Zootopia Central Hospital, given that her Daughter and now Husband had been all too frequent customers in the several years of their time together. This was not the worst circumstance, and she was finally going to meet the triplets, but she was tired, deeply fatigued by the unrelenting crisis of the past months, and this seemed not so much a respite as an exchange of one issue for another.

She noticed a ZPD officer on the elevator with her and wondered if she was going to see Nicholas. When she got off on the same floor and headed down the hall in the same direction, Bonny had to ask.

"Going to see Nicholas Wilde?"

The officer, an elephant, stopped and regarded her. "Oh! I'll bet you're Judy's Mom? Hi! I'm Francine Pennington. Work with both Nick and Judy."

Bonny had heard of the bubbly pachyderm from both of them and was delighted to finally meet her. "They told me about you! Yes, I'm Bonny Hopps! A pleasure to meet you!"

"Thank you! It's been an adventure with those two in the precinct, I'll tell you." The elephant beamed.

"Too much an adventure at times." And Bonny gestured to the Hospital they were in.

"Awh, not all that worse than any of us." Francine could see the Mother's worry. "Just about everyone get a free ride here now and again. But truth be told, it usually anything but criminal activity."

Bonny was clearly piqued by that and the Elephant Cow was happy to explain, suspecting her worry. "Auto accidents, car-pedestrian accidents, likely the biggest risk for a cop is just stepping out of a cruiser in traffic." And immediately regretted the admission with the look on the Bunny's face. "Sorry! What I'm trying to say, without a lotta luck, is simply being in the city has its day-to-day hazards. And while we have to take care of trouble makers, we don't actually get hurt all that often by them."

"Besides, your Judy has gotten a reputation for being a rabbit to recon with. She may be awfully small, but she makes up for it in agility and fighting smarts."

"Not exactly the thing to reassure a mother." But Bonny's smirk let Francine know she was just joking.

And there they were at the door. A cautious knock got a muffled "yeah", and the two entered to a cozy scene. Nick lay with the triplets nestled into his curve, surrounded by his brush, while his head rested in Judy's lap. Francine let go a little trumpet of glee and Bonny sighed in delight and relief.

'Hi Mom." Judy had been idly fussing with her Fox's ears and gave them a quick pull out to make them presentable for company.

Nick just wiggled his paw at the guests, enjoying the setting too much to break it.

But the main attention was on the three little cuties. This day they were in matching red tops and grey bottoms.

All three had their ears up and noses all a twitch in curious alert. Seeing the Elephant in the room, they all let out a little squeak of joy. They delighted in the great mountain of maternal enthusiasm that Francine seemed to exude. But they still noticed the elder Rabbit and turned to Judy for explanation.

"Hey Guys, this is my Mom. Say Hi."

As much as the three had their very cozy fox brush returned to them, cruelly deprived for more than a day now, meeting a new bunny was a sure way to get them up. They came up to the edge of the bed, heads cocked in a somewhat canid fashion, that fox's influence no doubt, and synchronized a cautious "'Ello."

"And hello to you three lovelies." Bonny could hardly contain herself. Any little kit was special, and though not Judy's issue, she felt a kinship to the three. "They are adorable!" She bubbled, "And their colors, the 'phone videos don't do them justice."

Judy flicked a quick glance at Nick; she hadn't sent any images to the family, in part because she knew he had. But how many and how often had he been doing so?

"Yeah, they're really something." And Judy cringed at how hollow that sounded. She had warmed up to the little darlings, mostly, but she was still wary of the family becoming prematurely attached to them while their status remained uncertain.

Bonny caught the little edge to Judy and gave her a sympathetic look. "I know about your reservations, Bun Bun." Glancing to Nick, who cringed theatrically. "But while they are with us, for however long, they deserve all the love we can give them."

Judy let go a guilty sigh, "You're right, of course." She looked to the three, who were looking back and forth at the talking adults. She shifted Nick out of the way and crawled over to the edge of the bed and the triplets. Mary raised her arms, expecting a cuddle and little Bonny and John gave Bonny a hopeful look for similar attention. There was much hugging and snuffling as the bunnies shared the mini-fluffle.

Nick looked to Francine, who mouthed an 'I'll see you later', not wanting to get in the way of the family time. He in turn mouthed a 'thanks, love ya' and gave her a little salute. As much as he wanted to join in the fluffle, he knew Judy needed that oh so much. Seeing how she had held herself back for so long had been heart-breaking for her sake. He had a fair inkling of how much maternal instinct was still in her, even after all this time striving for her life's dream.

Early on she'd confessed her fears about having to make hard choices between family and career in very all or nothing terms. But these last months have dealt with the terror triplets so much better than she had feared. For that matter, it had not gone nearly as bad as he was prepared to have to cope with as well. His resolve had been triggered by a level of full-on Todd-Father instinct that he hadn't appreciated and had since marveled how easy, how natural his role had become.

Which had, for a while, brought on a secret level of anxiety over his relationship with Judy. Even though she'd said yes to getting formal and later had somewhat expediently married to qualify as foster parents for the three, had there been moments when her reluctance had stirred the unthinkable. If he had been forced to choose between them, he wasn't sure she would be the one he'd keep.

But that was all in the past, and even more so now. The wounds of the crisis were healing, and with her Mother's support, Judy could become a working mother in a fashion she had never considered.

00000

Having to only deal with three relatively well-behaved kits while her Daughter and her Fox were off protecting and serving the big city had become practically a vacation for Bonny after all. And the three certainly enjoyed all the focused attention.

She hadn't intended on staying so long and knew her Dear Stuart missed her terribly, as did she him. But she could tell her Judy needed her support and calming influence more than she'd ever admit.

Such a headstrong kit, yet so emotionally vulnerable, too much like her father at times. That had been her great conflict with the triplets, dreading the hurt that might come from allowing herself to love them with all the intensity she had in her, only to risk having it crushed by a change in their status.

But Bonny knew that great love always came with great pain. There were too many names already in the family plot that were her beloved issue, but it had never deterred her from loving each new life just as intensely. A lesson Judy had not really learned, and one Bonny prayed she'd never have to face.

But she was coming around to take the chance with the three. And now with her Fox fully mended and cleared for duty, Bonny's job here was nearly done.

There was a buzz from the apartment entrance intercom and it took a moment for Bonny to find the unit to respond.

"Hello? Wilde and Hopps residence?"

"Eh? Yer Hopps' Mother?" The voice was an unfamiliar deep base growl.

"Uhm, yes. Can I help you?"

"Er, kinda, I guess. The Big Dummy - ah, Nicholas, wanted me tah poke around, 'bout the Bunnies."

"He'll be home in a couple hours."

"Oh, no. We've had - personal issues. Don' wanna see him anytime soon. But I got some stuff I wanna drop off. If I can."

Though it was the big bad city, Bonny wasn't one to be intimidated by the unknown, especially with the promise of information regarding the triplets.

"Come on up."

In a moment she opened the door to find a Fennec, a tiny fox fellow, in a polo shirt and chinos.

"Mrs. Hopps." The little Desert Fox's deep base voice was a startling contrast.

"Oh. You must be Finnick?" Bonny had heard about Nick's former running buddy. "Come on in."

"Are the tail grabbers away?" He cautiously glanced around.

"I have then down for a nap. It's safe to come on in."

"Gotta be careful. The Big Dummy lets 'em get ina Fox's' brush." And he gave a theatric cringe at the thought.

"They do like all that fluff."

"It ain't decent." He huffed.

Bonny let it go and pressed on. "Would you like something?" As she gestured him to the living room.

"Thanks but nah. I just wanted ta drop this off." holding out an envelope. "There's some paper an' a stick wit' what I found out. Which ain't much." And at that grimaced in what might be regret.

"Anything you can tell me?" Bonny wasn't going to peek unbidden, but was intensely curious.

"Sure. Found some folk who knew her, co-workers mostly. She did cleanin' and dishwasher stuff mostly, all off book. Not hard to do inna down an' out joint. Always just 'er first name an' never stayed long at any one place." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "The vibe was that she was a bit paranoid, didn't like goin' out in public, didn't like talkin' about herself. Changed jobs between bein' preggers and havin' 'em. Never mentioned havin' kits at all, jus' did short shifts to be able to get back to 'em, I guess."

Finnick paused to rub his eyes again and scrub the back of his neck in a self-conscious fashion.

"Figured the timin' was about this month two years ago. Judy an' the Big Dummy did a search an' never found any official birth record."

"Poor Girl." Bonny could hardly imagine how a Doe could function in such isolation.

"Yeah." And she could tell he had the same thought.

"Is there anything else?"

"Nah, she simply didn't seem ta do anything, an' can't find anyone who knew her from more than about four years ago. Maybe she came from outta the boonies. There use ta be a counter-culture warren out on Black River, and maybe she came outta there. But they never co-operated with the Power back then and all dispersed since. So who knows? What was clear she wasn't local, but not'in distinct like, no obvious accent."

The Fennec glanced around, clearly conflicted, then, "Tell the Big Dummy, Nick, that things are more or less cool. He'll understand."

And that was that. Bonny stood there for a while, holding the package and thinking about the poor, dreadful existence the Doe must have faced. While tempted to call Judy and tell her about this news, she knew that her daughter needed to concentrate on the day's duties and that it would be a terrible distraction.

She went back to see how they were doing. Still sleeping, a darling lump of grey on grey. She had a bittersweet smile for them. Such a tragic beginning and fortuitous rescue. And now such a life-changing opportunity for so many.

Bonny went to the kitchen to prepare a bit of tea. And call her Stuart.

"Bonnymylove, how's things?"

"Looking ever better. Barring a bolt from the blue, the three will likely become adoptable. The poor Doe seems to have had no one anywhere who really knew her, nor does it look like anyone might be looking for, or even knew about the three."

Stuart drew a sad sigh. "That's terrible." He considered a moment and collected himself; the full implication of her plight hit him hard. "How is Judy taking all of that?"

"Well, as you know, all that was known, or at least suspected. Nicholas' friend, that Fennec Fox, was just over and appears to have confirmation. She doesn't know yet, but Judy has already let herself really love them, so everything is good."

"I'm glad, and relieved. That Daughter of yours has been such a worry."

"Oh, she's all my fault now?"

"Too smart for her own good to be mine."

"You haven't seen her get all gushy, you silly old Buck. She's got your tear ducts."

A small laugh. "So, when you coming home? I've missed my cuddleBonny."

"Let's see how things go tonight, but I'm figuring my work is done here."

 **Not the end, though likely a jumping off point for various episodes later in their life, mostly as stand alone shorts.**


	7. Chapter 7

**And we jump ahead twenty-odd years. While I would want to do more with little bunnies, I thought it best that I take care of the Marnie question for now. The extra background on Finn has been taken from Selaxes' 'Cry for the Children' now over at AO3 as an element of his larger 'In the Days that Follow' collective story.**

'Phone chime and a soft caller ID voice 'Chryssie, emergency call'. The 'phone would otherwise screen any late night communications.

Nick's blood ran cold at that and he grabbed the paw held, "Nick here!"

"Nick! It's Finn! He's in route to Zoo Central. Might be a stroke!" Finn's Wife, Chrysanthemum, the erstwhile steady Tenuki could barely whisper the awful words.

Damn it. The little Sand Dog's health was less than good lately, but...

"I can be there in just a few!" Nick gasped. Turning to his best beloved who had also snapped awake with the call, "Judy, Finn's gone to hospital, Chryssie says it might be a stroke!"

The pair were up and dressed in an instant, with the practice of years in reaction to crisis. While Nick set the 'phone to route calls, Judy collected wallets and keys and paw-helds for the two of them and they were out the door in a flash.

While the running joke was that Nick was the more sober driver, it was always Judy who could focus on maintaining a safe performance in even the most harrowing hot pursuits. That left Nick to fret over his oldest friend's possible situation.

The Fennec had a rough life early on, and took to bad habits of drink and tobacco for a long while. But even after years of clean living later, damage was beginning to catch up with him and he was old beyond his years. That other associates in his same general age bracket had either passed or were in deep decline was an unpleasant reminder of what they might be facing.

After all the years together, Nick and Judy didn't need to say all that much, just some shared expressions and an occasional grunt, especially now. Outpourings could wait.

Zootopia General Hospital was all too familiar to the pair, both as repeat customers as well as all too many friends and relatives getting the 'free ride' ambulance trip to emergency. There they found the little raccoon dog waiting for them, looking like bad news.

Chryssie was a veteran officer and otherwise used to all manner of tragedy, but this time... She stood too rigid, too clenched, and the pair realized the worst.

"Chryssie...?" Judy stood off, just in case the grief-stricken Tenuki needed some space.

"He flat-lined in route. His EEG was already gone when the medtechs first hooked him up, but there was always the tiny hope..." She gasped out, her face screwed tight with pain. Then she seemed to recover, or at least unclenched herself. "He was gone, just like that." She sighed, and held out her arms for a hug.

After the several octades as all but family in name, words were not necessary as the three shared their grief in that physical contact.

Then began the tedious task of dealing with the death. Everyone there were city employees and were already well versed in the labyrinthine processes therein. Fortunately, the paper-pushers were prepared to hold off on the worst of it for a few days in respect for all involved. While Nick and Judy were still the hero-saviors of Zootopia all these years on, Hiram and Chrysanthemum Finster enjoyed some well-earned attention over the years in their respective fields.

That also meant that the media ghouls attempted to be out in force, but were kept at bay by the ZPD family in blue.

But what was worse were the well-wishers. Even though the outpouring of sympathy was earnest and heart-felt, all it did was remind poor Chryssie that her Mate was gone.

After all those years, Finn the half-pint street hustler was pretty much forgotten, aside, almost ironically, by some of the ZPD veterans, including some from the worst of the bad old days. With the distance of years, they waxed nostalgic as though he was some manner of worthy adversary. A point that especially grated with Nick, who knew that they had targeted him with 'Precinct Thirteen' treatment more than once. On the other paw, most of them were now very much ex-cops, as various anonymous sources lead to evidence that helped shortened careers or lead to charges. But the solidarity of the thin blue line even in that was a bitter pill.

The outpouring of true affection and gratitude to Hiram, the child welfare advocate, was, in many ways so much harder to take. The countless lives he had touched, helped, and even saved only emphasized how vast a hole he now left. Or so it seemed to Nick and Chryssie, and they spent most of the next days and weeks close in mutual support.

Chief Kamatti was ever so understanding and supportive, allowing them the time to work through their grief. Bogo, now retired from the ZPD and long time champion of the various programs that Hiram had struggled with over the years came out of retirement specifically to insure the best of his efforts would not fade with his loss.

Judy and the Triplets stood by and helped as they could, but in the end, it was the simple passage of time that healed the worst of the wound.

Finally, on a day that seemed that all the worst was behind them, Nick announced, "Judy, I've got something I need to tell you, the Triplets, and Chryssie, about Finn and me." Nick wouldn't look at his Wife as he said it.

"Can you tell me what it is?" Judy could tell it was special, likely in a bad way.

"Only that it was way back in the bad old days, but is still relevant to all of us still."

Getting the three bunnies back was a bit of a chore. Bereavement leave and travel was one thing, but cryptic family pow wows were quite another. Mary was back in the 'Burrow, getting ready for her first litter with Ted. Bonny was back in university at Cordata and John was back on duty off in the Territories. But the next weekend was possible with some abuse of credit cards for last minute travel costs.

"So, what is Dad all about?" Mary grumped. She was nearly due and feeling very full in all the worse ways. Judy had picked her up at the train station and was surprised how really round she'd gotten in the last few weeks.

"I really don't know beyond what he told all of us earlier, which is basically nothing." Judy echoed her Daughter's vexed tone. Now perhaps doubly so, seeing how uncomfortable she was in her condition. "I'm almost surprised Ted let you go by yourself."

"Not really his choice." And she gave her Mother a mock snarl. "He couldn't afford it and I'm not a beached whale yet." Then more thoughtfully, "Dad knows how far along I am, yet insisted I come, so I suspect it's really important."

"Yeah..." Judy trailed off. Nick had gotten increasingly moody, withdrawn and guarded, both at work and at home. Personal time was the worst, as he would endlessly groom Judy, a sure sign of worry, but refused reciprocal attention. Her attempts to get anything out of him was met with increasingly firm resistance, and reactions of pained guilt in the refusals.

Bonny and John both flew in later that day, separate flights but close enough arrivals that everyone decided to meet at the airport before heading home. John was still in his Territorial Guard uniform, and looked particularly sharp while Bonny looked like she still cramming for finals, which she was.

"Your Husband better have a damn good reason for dragging me back here." Bonny very uncharacteristically snarled. Her eyes were baggy red and her ears refused to be anything but dead limp.

"My Husband? He's your Father!" Judy bantered back, but her tone dropped to serious. "I guess we're going to find out shortly."

Bonny looked to her siblings who could only shrug, then gave Mary a double take. "Cheese, Mary, you look like you're about to literally pop."

"Argh. Don't I know it. And about that, I need another bathroom break." and She pointed to a strategically convenient rest room. She waved off any assistance and waddled in; assuring everyone she'd be back in a second. A moment later there was much shouting and when Judy and Bonny got inside they found a somewhat confused Mary with a pair of kits in her arms.

"I felt like I had to go, and, ya know, pushed. Almost dropped the first one in the toilet." Said with a meek smile. "Everyone kept on going on how arduous it could be. Breaking water, labor pains and all. And they just popped out, easy peasy."

As the airport had EMTs on hand, with some experience with surprise births, getting things tidied up and cleared for a non-emergency trip to the hospital was done with efficiency. Needless to say there were any number of 'phone calls, including one to the new Great Grandmother who laughed and laughed. The new Father was very dismayed he wasn't on hand, but agreed, very reluctantly, to finish up things at work and to dare not dangerously rush to the City.

Nick was rather subdued when he heard, and was going to meet them at home bringing Chryssie with him, barring any surprises with what ought to be a simple pediatric and post partum exam at the hospital.

"Wow, that is pretty weird for Dad." Bonny observed. "I'd have thought he'd be giddy with excitement over them."

"Especially with a little Nicholas to spoil." Mary and Ted had already had a short list of names and the smoky-pointed little boy got to named after his Grandfather. The other boy, a grey, was getting his Great Grandfather's name.

"That's been Your Father all these last days." Judy sighed. "I only hope that once whatever this is done, he recovers from it. As down as he was when Finn first passed, this has been worse."

They got home to find Nick and Cryssie already there. No surprise in that, but to find that Nick had been drinking was. Not that he was drunk, but he never drank. He was always too cautious, too controlled to risk 'in vino veritas'. While he was happy to see everyone, including the new members of the family, he was still restrained.

Though he was not drunk, the alcohol plus the cumulative stress of the last many days gave him a deeply fatigued air, and now he seemed to be letting that weight go as he addressed his children. "Your Mother has belabored you with all manner of tales of how I was all over you when I first found you back in the day. And all too much of it is true, and for all the obvious reasons. I've always been a sucker for cute little baby things and I was getting familial thoughts about your Mother already." He looked over to his Judy and they shared expressions. "But there was another aspect that put an edge on things, and until Finn died, I couldn't dare tell of it."

"There is no statute of limitations on wrongful death, and Finn would have been vulnerable to hard time since he was already a felon."

The family flinched at the news. They knew of Uncle Finn's rather 'colorful' past, and it was true, though half of the 'felony' aspect was simply the crime of being a fox in the bad old days along with some minor non-violent offenses.

Nick explained. "It was back in the really bad old days, when I was still just a kid and Finn was not all that old himself, but liable as an adult for anything he might get caught for."

"We were living on the streets, literally at times, and there was a circle of other street kids we hung with. Some were runaways; others were kid that had been tossed out of their homes for whatever reason. Others were simply trying to get by off the grid, out of the system."

"Marnie was maybe twenty-two (18 base ten) and had a couple kits, desperate to keep them, so hid them and her away from any authorities. Always afraid that she'd be deemed an unfit mother and all that. We all tried to help as we could, but she was a bit secretive, had a hard time trusting anyone."

Nick always had a bit of a guarded tone when he talked about the bad old days, but now his whole demeanor turned grave, his eyes hinted at something...

"She got knocked down by a car. Didn't seem too bad, skinned elbow kind of thing, or so she insisted. As always, she didn't dare get herself checked out. Too scared that they'd notice she was a nursing mother and all that."

Nick paused and grimaced, looking at a memory rather than the family around him.

"We didn't see her for a few days. Not entirely unusual. Like I said, she could get a bit paranoid and disappear for a while. Then we got a tip that she was squatting at an abandoned office space and we went to see if she was okay or needed anything."

This time he paused and looked to the three young adults who sat before him, his face twisted in real grief.

"She was dead. For all we could tell, likely died that same night after she was hit. Her kits were there, hadn't been cared for since."

He looked up, as though imploring the heavens, "We were so stupid ignorant. And we freaked out. Never had to deal with a dead person so directly before. We split. Left them. Had to figure out what to do. Finn was really scared. He had just got out of jail a couple weeks earlier. Bullshit charges and some 'special attention' while locked up."

Nick paused again, hunched over, his face in his paws.

"We came back, but it was some hours later. There was so much we didn't know. And the kits had died too. All too late."

Nick sat back up, his face a lifeless mask.

The collected mammals around him were in shocked silence.

After a moment he recovered a bit, looking to the three and Judy and Chryssie in turn. "Finn took it hard. Kept himself knocked out drunk for like a week, and kept drinking hard for a good while after. I never dared drink, but kept an eye on him."

"I'd been an angry young mammal, hated the world and didn't care too much about anyone and anything. Since a drop out young fox literally couldn't work in the city back then, when I wasn't helping Finn I was a nasty little nickel and dime thief, shoplifting, smash and grabs, car prowls, a couple B and Es. A lot of petty vandalism too. Finn had always been the hustler, and was pretty disgusted with me half the time for my BS."

"But after Marnie, I never stold so much as a chew stick ever again. I was never going to make an innocent victim of anyone. Sure, I'd hustle and scam, but I'd never actually hurt anyone. And too many of those scam 'victims' knew they were playing the odds, going with their own greed instead of the straight and narrow."

He looked to Judy; "I didn't want to tell you all of my ugly early life, though I came totally clean with Bogo back in the day. All juvenile acts, so technically free and clear later, but needed to be told. Except for Marnie."

As Judy and Chryssie were both officers, they knew that Finn could have been prosecuted for negligent death, and likely would have been harshly sentenced in the bad old days. Given his many years of sterling service since, he was likely not in real jeopardy any more but it would have tarnished his legacy. Judy remembered finding Finn all those years ago after they first found the triplets and realized likely why he was in the state he was in then.

Nick then turned to Chryssie, "And Finn, once he got more sober began to volunteer for stuff. Some general social service assistance at first, then got seriously into child welfare. I suspect, though he never said anything, that he had some issues of his own with that kind of thing, and Marnie really hit him hard. And you know how he went pro once he saw me go legit with Judy and the ZPD."

The Tenuki sat in thought, her face going through a range of expressions as she considered the implications of what Nick just said.

Nick again looked to his three children; "You know I love you all for yourselves. But in those first few minutes, it was Marnie and her kits all over again, and I wasn't going to let it happen again."

"Mom said you were kind of crazy clingy with us early on..." John warily observed.

"Yeah, but that was just me going into fatherhood overload. You guys really were the cutest things back then. Marnie and all was just my dread of the moment. I really did fall totally for you from day one."

That night, with Mary and Ted on the road back to the 'Burrow with Bonny's help with the twins and John crashed out in the spare bedroom, Nick and Judy finally got to bed themselves.

"Cheese, Nick! That was a bombshell if ever there was one."

"I know, but I had to get it out. That whole business haunted us forever."

"Forever?"

"Yeah... Whenever things got hard and the easy way out..." Nick sighed. "Sure, I've taken shortcuts in my life, but on the things that really mattered, when other's lives were involved, it always came back to that. Same thing with Finn. He was a sour little sand dog from day one, but that left a bitterness, a self-loathing that took a long time to get over."

Nick sighed and stared off at the ceiling. "And even then, I'd lapse, and the guilt after would eat me alive. Remember the bridge? How easily I could forgive you? Along with everything else that had gone through my mind in the weeks and months before, the Marnie factor wasn't all that far behind as well."

Judy smiled at a little memory. "Finn's face when I found him looking for you. Glob, how he hated me, but how much he loved you. All tough and gruff and that, but by the time he realized I was sincere, I could tell he was hoping I'd be your salvation."

"Salvation." Nick sighed. "Yeah. You know he called me to warn me you were coming. And though he never said it, I could tell he was hoping. He'd been worried about me in his own way."

"Marnie was a turning point. Kept me from going down a really bad path. But not enough to make me a better fox. Not in the way that you did, Carrots."

"Humph! Now we're back to 'Carrots'?" It was a nickname that had fallen out of use in favor of 'Judymylove'.

"Well, if we're going down nostalgia lane..."

"Oh, I see, Popsicle Hustler."

"Officer Fluff."

Both knew they were deliberately distracting themselves from the deeper and potentially painful subjects, but in the moment, why not.


End file.
